The Kodiak Award is
a new annual award beginning this year. It
will be presented to Bipolar World's outstanding
"Volunteer of the Year".

For those who don't
know Kodiak, he was Bipolar World's message board
monitor for over two years until his death to
cancer on August 25, 2000, which was also the date
of his 50th birthday. Kodiak not only was an
excellent board monitor, he spent countless hours
supporting individuals with bipolar disorder and
their loved ones on a one to one basis. We
have chosen to remember him always with this award
bearing his name.

The award for
2001-2002 was presented to David Lilley (twopoles)
on August 25, 2002. In the past year
Twopoles has spent countless hours as a chat
operator in the main Bipolar chat room. He
has worked with several new chat "ops" teaching
them procedure. In addition he has "touched"
many different areas at Bipolar World. He
has written articles and poetry. He works
regularly doing email support on a one to one
basis. He is responsible for getting the
Significant Others board in healthy shape.
He accepted a position as advisor to the partners
at Bipolar World. All that he does, he does
diligently and well. If you are in
trouble and need someone to talk to, Twopoles is
always ready to help. For all of these
things and more he deserves to be our first
Volunteer of the Year. A plaque will be
mailed to him to convey the appreciation of the
partners and members at Bipolarworld. Thank
You Twopoles!!!! Congratulations!

Acceptance Poem by
Twopoles

I know the best place to start
is a sincere thanks to all involved
from the bottom of my heart.

Visitors and volunteers
some will sholder and some will shed
those mixed bipolar tears

In memory of Kodiak--As he would have done
There's work to be done here.
We'll carry on friend. We will continue on.

twopoles

This
family remembrance of Kodiak was
written by his older brother Paul to
be read at the presentation ceremony.

A Brother's
Remembrance of Ben Kalkstein

Ben was
the middle child of the four boys and
a girl in our family; I was the
oldest. From the start, Ben was
different from the rest of us. We were
dark haired, and he had golden-red
hair, like his grandfather, the
distinguished federal judge, Herbert
F. Goodrich. Ben was the Golden Boy.
In his grade he was always the best
athlete. He captained the football
team both in high school and at
Swarthmore College. For the five years
the family spent in Israel, where our
father was building a fertilizer plant
for the government, Ben was known as a
"gibbour" - an athletic hero.

But
athletics were not Ben's main
distinction, for he was a scholar,
too. He was a strong student at
Swarthmore, and then at Villanova Law
School. After law school, Ben
was able to unite his vocation with
his avocation, as he went to work as
an attorney for the Environmental
Protection Administration.

Ben rose
rapidly at EPA, and he eventually
became a judge, like his
grandfather. All through his youth and
adult life, Ben was a devotee of the
outdoors. He loved to hike and camp,
and along every trail he walked he
carried a bag to pick up other
people's trash. This is a habit that
spread to everyone in the family.

About ten
years before he died, Ben was
diagnosed with bipolar disorder. So
powerful was the respect that his EPA
colleagues felt for him that they
happily took on his duties and covered
for him when he was ill. Ben's
generosity was repaid when he needed
help himself. However, even when he
was hospitalized, Ben was clearly
respected and obviously generous. When
I visited him once in a state
institution in the South Jersey pines,
he had me smuggle in some cigarettes
for a patient, although Ben himself
hated cigarettes. Another time I
visited Ben at Friends Hospital in
Philadelphia and found him amidst a
coterie of admirers. Everyone loved
him.

During
those last ten years Ben's greatest
joy and salvation was what he gave to
those of you who are here this
evening, and to others who are not
here. He spent countless hours on the
Internet and on the phone, counseling
and supporting. This need to support
others, which helped him as it helped
those whom he helped, took precedence
over almost everything else in his
life during Ben's last years. You who
knew him know this better than anyone
else.

Ben's
death came very suddenly. He had been
feeling stomach pain for several
months, but his doctor could not
diagnose him. He planned to spend his
50th birthday with us in Maine, but
two days before that birthday my
mother called, almost speechless, and
told me that Ben had terminal liver
cancer. So we spent his birthday with
him in Philadelphia. I held his hand
for the hours it took him to die. He
passed away peacefully, and without
being a trouble to anyone - that was
his way always.

But I
remember, more and more as I grow
older, those wonderful early days when
my we kids were growing up in
Moorestown, NJ. I remember especially
the long summer nights when we played
games, the family and the kids of the
neighborhood, and sometimes relatives
who lived nearby. Once, after Ben hit
a signature towering homerun in
softball, our cousin Josh exclaimed,
"That ball was STUNJE!" (Stung) Ever
after, Ben was nicknamed "Stunje" in
the family, and some of you will
remember that "stunje" was his
username on Yahoo. Joy was his
characteristic way of facing the
world, and even the anguish of bipolar
disorder could not entirely dampen his
joy. After his death, a young
colleague at the EPA related this
brief and typical story:

"I used to
think that Ben treated me with special
warmth because we went to the same
school, or because our mothers were
old friends from their school days, or
maybe simply because I had the same
name as his daughter, Betsy. The
truth is that he really was, as you
say, a "gentle"man (especially once he
got his bipolar disorder under
control), and his compassion and
kindness extended well beyond any
specific affiliations.

"I
remember a ripping toboggan ride we
had down a hill at Eagles Mere, PA.
The snow was brand new and deep, but
the toboggan just flew over it with
just me and Ben on it. We got to the
bottom of the hill and never slowed
down on the flat. We just sailed out
across the driveway that looped around
the hill (it was at a lodge or condo),
slammed down onto the plowed and
snow-packed driveway, and plowed head
first into the snow bank on the other
side. We were both laughing
hysterically when Ben, who was in
front, turned around and looked at me
-- his glasses were missing and he had
snow stuck in his eyebrows and all
over his face. We finally found his
glasses in the middle of the
driveway."

When there
were family arguments, Ben was the
peacemaker. You know this, I expect,
because a peacemaker was what he was
in the bipolar community, too.
Ben tried to achieve balance and
harmony in the world. He struggled
ever so hard to do that in his own
life, a task made nigh impossible by
his bipolar disorder. But Ben never
gave up, he never let up, trying to
make people and things come together.

I am an
English teacher, and I have always
tried not to confuse literature and
life. But sometimes they come
together. I especially think of Ben
when Iremember these lines from Robert
Frost's poem, "Two Tramps in Mud
Time":

But yield
who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal
stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes.

May God
bless you and this gathering.

Paul
Kalkstein
-

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KODIAK AWARD:
2002-2003

On August 25, 2003 Syl
was awarded with the second annual
Kodiak Volunteer of the Year Award.

Syl
was voted unanimously for her
participation in many areas of the
site, and for being a warm and
supportive member of Bipolar World.

Syl
is a chat monitor in the main chat
room, a moderator on the main email
list, a moderator on the poetry
list, owner of the Bipolar Art List,
frequent contributor to the bulletin
boards, and creator of greeting
cards, art, and backgrounds for the
site.

Bipolar
World is proud to present the Kodiak
Award to Syl. Congratulations!

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Kodiak Award 2003-2004

Bipolar World is proud to
present this years Volunteer of the
Year - Kodiak Award to Debbie.

Debbie has been a volunteer at
Bipolar World for three years and has
worked both as a chat op and a forums
moderator.

Deb is friendly, warm and
supportive and has helped may others
during her time here.